


Separation Anxiety

by Black_Knight



Category: Runaways (TV 2017)
Genre: F/F, Fluff and Angst
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-12-09
Updated: 2019-12-09
Packaged: 2021-02-26 04:40:28
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,709
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21727672
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Black_Knight/pseuds/Black_Knight
Summary: Karolina is safely back at home - the Hostel, in Nico’s arms - but the trauma isn’t over for Nico…
Relationships: Karolina Dean/Nico Minoru
Comments: 10
Kudos: 204





	Separation Anxiety

Nico jolted awake for the eighth time that night.

Karolina is the kind of sleeper who regularly shifts position in bed. Nico had never minded it before, as she herself is ordinarily a deep sleeper. But in the aftermath of Karolina’s kidnapping, Nico was frightened of being away from her again. So she dozed, at best, and every time Karolina moved, Nico woke and made sure Karolina was still in the bed with her.

A week had passed since Karolina’s rescue, and Nico was now very short on sleep. This might account for what happened, as she was never very good at thinking when running on fumes.

The group was spread out over the downstairs floor of the Hostel: Alex tinkering with his computers, Gert and Chase snuggling on the couch, Molly trying to figure out a way to ride on Old Lace’s back, and Nico at the table choking down some awful vegan recipe Karolina wanted to try.

“Do you like it?”

Nico plastered a fake smile on her face. “Mmm, yes.”

Karolina looked wryly at her. “Nice try.” She gave Nico a quick kiss as she scooped up their plates, and then went to the kitchen to wash up. Instinctively, Nico’s hands tightened into fists as she restrained herself from running into the kitchen after Karolina. But her palms were starting to hurt from her nails digging in, so for relief Nico grabbed the Staff to give her hands something to clench.

Nico tried to breathe slowly and deeply as she listened to the sounds of the running faucet and clinking dishes, evidence that Karolina was just in the next room. And not…gone.

It wasn’t working. Neither was counting to ten. She stood up in agitation and began to pace. Why wasn’t Karolina back yet? Nico gripped the Staff tighter with her left hand, only dimly registering the prick and the blood. Why did they ever have to be apart? They should always be together. Always. Together. _"Together!"_

The Staff glowed, and Nico looked at it in confusion. And then, suddenly she was off balance - no, she didn’t even have her feet on the floor!

“Whoa!” Karolina exclaimed, as Nico fell forward and to the left. She tried to throw her arms out for balance, but while her left hand still held the Staff, her right arm…didn’t seem to exist! Nico whipped her head around in confusion, noticing some kind of heavy form was where her right arm should have been.

Karolina let out a shriek, and at first Nico thought Karolina had an arm around her and was trying to help her right herself. Both girls fell to the floor, and as they struggled face-down, Nico realized the truth: She and Karolina were stuck together.

The noise brought the rest of the group running, but for a moment they could only just stare.

Molly finally said, “Nico and Karolina-“

“-are conjoined twins now?” Gert finished.

“What the hell?” Chase asked, as he and Alex tried to figure out how to righten the girls. The problem quickly became clear: Nico and Karolina were now joined from the hip up, and Nico’s legs being shorter than Karolina’s, this meant they couldn’t really stand.

It took all three of Molly, Chase and Alex to carry the conjoined Nico and Karolina over to the couch without it being too uncomfortable for them. Nico and Karolina stared down at their merged bodies while the others looked on in fascination. Alex muttered to himself and then rushed off. When he came back, they saw that he was carrying a camera.

“Don’t even think about it, Alex,” Nico warned. 

Alex appealed to Chase. “You understand, right? It’s science.” 

Karolina waved her right hand, and although she chose not to light up, Alex understood her threat. He lowered the camera with a sigh.

“How did this happen?” Molly asked.

“It has to be the Staff, right, Nico?” Gert said.

Nico had come to that conclusion too, but didn’t really want to admit it. Karolina was studying her. “What did you command it to do?”

Nico muttered, “I don’t know. I was just walking around, and maybe I thought something about you being in the kitchen…

“Okay, so, just wish to be split up then,” Chase said.

“No!” Alex and Gert both yelled. Off the confused looks of the others, Gert said, “It seems like that could go really wrong, really easily, really fast.” Everyone blanched as gruesome images came into their minds.

“Maybe you could hit Undo!”

“The Staff doesn’t have Control-Z, Molly,” Alex said.

Karolina sighed. “Maybe we should just wait. Maybe there’s some sort of time limit on this, or the Staff will realize it’s not what you want.”

Nico suspected the latter might be a problem, because although she shouldn’t, she did find it oddly comforting to know Karolina was right next to her…literally. She didn’t share this though, instead just nodding, “Yeah, time limit.”

“Well, then,” Chase said, shuffling his feet as he continued to sneak looks at them. Nico and Karolina sighed in unison. “Just go away, guys,” Nico said.

“We’ll call if we need you,” Karolina added.

When they’re alone, Karolina asked, “What are we going to do now?”

“Maybe just sleep?” Nico suggested.

“Like, sleep this off?”

Nico hadn’t meant that exactly, but she was quick to agree. And she did sleep very, very well for the first time in a week. This seemed to satisfy the Staff, because when she woke up, she and Karolina were no longer joined at the hip.

Karolina and the rest of the group seemed to accept what happened as a total accident, although Nico thought that Gert might be looking at her a little narrowly. Still, life went back to normal - including Nico continuing to struggle with the idea of her and Karolina being apart. Of course, being literally joined at the hip was too much, but maybe there was something else she could try with the Staff.

After another week of little sleep, Nico was at her wits’ end. She’d googled separation anxiety, and had been trying the suggestion of small, controlled doses of separation. The problem was, she didn’t want to tell Karolina about it, and so Karolina inadvertently kept breaking the schedule Nico had planned. This morning had been a perfect example: The girls had been dressing together in their bedroom, but it took Karolina much less time to throw on a shirt and pants than it took Nico to dress in one of her fairly elaborate goth outfits. So Karolina sailed out the door to say good morning to the others while Nico was still only half-dressed and unable to follow.

Nico eyed the Staff. She knew she shouldn’t. But she was so tired. And still so scared. She gave in, gripping the Staff and making her wish.

Nothing horrible happened. That was good. In fact, nothing seemed to change at all. That wasn’t so good. Maybe it hadn’t worked? Nico gathered her cosmetics with a sigh. She’d go to the bathroom and do her makeup, and think on what other spells she could try.

Only when she got a certain way down the hall, she heard a shout. Karolina. She turned around, intending to run to Karolina - except, before she can even start running, she found herself pulled forward. She stumbled down the corridor, feeling herself at the end of some kind of invisible rope. When she reached the top of the stairs, she saw Alex waiting for her at the bottom. He nodded once, as if confirming something to himself, and then turned around and yelled, “Stop now! Or Nico will fall down the stairs!”

The pulling sensation stopped immediately. Nico straightened, no longer off balance, and asked Alex, “You figured it out?”

“Yeah, when you went off to the bathroom, Karolina started being pulled backwards.” The rest of the group joined him, looking up at Nico.

“Two accidents with the Staff in two weeks?” Chase asked.

“Of course it wasn’t, Chase!” Gert said. She glared up at Nico. “This is such a violation of boundaries-“

“Stop it, Gert,” Karolina interrupted. She ran lightly up the stairs to Nico and took her hand. “It’s okay. Just…undo it.”

“There’s no Control-Z-“

“Shut UP, Molly!” Alex snapped.

Nico looked into Karolina’s kind face and nodded briefly. Since they weren’t physically joined together, Nico felt safe enough casting a spell to eliminate the metaphysical connection. The Staff glowed.

“Done.”

“Better test it,” Gert muttered.

Karolina threw her a warning look, then sighed. “We should. Just to make sure the Staff did it right.”

“And didn’t, like, just double the length or something,” Gert said obstinately.

Karolina smiled reassuringly at Nico, and then went down the stairs and grabbed Gert’s hand while leaving the Hostel. Gert yelped as she was dragged outside.

Alex pushed his glasses back up his nose as he gazed up again at Nico. He opened his mouth, but Nico pre-empted him with a “Shut up, Alex,” as she went back into her bedroom and slammed the door.

Alone again, Nico stared balefully at the Staff. The whole group was onto her now, including Karolina. She didn’t want Karolina to be mad at her, but she also didn’t want Karolina’s…pity. And now Karolina was outside the Hostel alone, and goddess knew what was happening to her. But no, she was with Gert. Gert, who didn’t have any powers or special devices and helpless without Old Lace. Nico buried her face in her hands.

Fifteen interminable minutes passed. It was too long. Karolina would have been able to go far enough to satisfy even the suspicious Gert, and they should have been back by now. Nico went down the stairs and sat on them, feeling the panic build in her. The others had grown bored and gone off to the dining area - she could hear them talking in low voices while munching on snacks. Didn’t they realize anything could have happened to Karolina and Gert while they were out there?

Nico couldn’t stand it anymore. She tightened her hand on the Staff and cast another spell, not to tie herself and Karolina together, but to sense whether Karolina was okay.

The Staff glowed, and then there was a similar glow in Nico’s mind. It was beautiful. It seemed so much like Karolina. Nico closed her eyes, the better to concentrate. An image came through, of walking along…walking into the Hostel…

_Nico?_

Nico’s eyes flew open as she realized what the spell had done. They could see inside each other’s minds. Karolina could see inside Nico’s mind. Oh goddess.

Nico hastily undid the spell and stood up as Karolina came through the door, Gert behind her.

“Okay, okay,” Nico began to say placatingly.

“Seriously, Nico? That is such an invasion of privacy,” Gert yelled.

Karolina ignored her, striding directly to Nico. She began to glow as she wrapped her arms around Nico’s waist, and Nico found that the two of them were rising upward. She threw her arms around Karolina’s neck in a panic, but then felt that Karolina was holding her quite firmly with both her arms and the beams of light that flowed from her body.

When they reached just below the skylight, Nico swallowed and looked down, noticing how small Gert seemed in the distance. Was Karolina going to teach her some kind of lesson?

Instead Karolina spun the two of them slowly in the air, and Nico realized suddenly that Karolina was…humming. She looked at Karolina in confusion.

Karolina’s eyes twinkled. “Why didn’t you tell me you wanted to do this?”

Nico blushed as she realized what Karolina had seen in her mind. But this _was_ pretty great.

She rolled her eyes self-deprecatingly. “Oh, you know. I’d have to give up my goth card.”

“We’re dancing in the air beneath a broken skylight in a decrepit building,” Karolina pointed out. “I think it’s still gothic enough - especially if you haven’t had to turn your goth card in already for dating me at all.”

“You are pretty sparkly. I might already be out of the club,” Nico conceded with a chuckle.

She loosened her arms around Karolina’s neck, shifting from a grip to a hold, and they enjoyed a few more rotations in the air, their faces close together.

But then Nico sighed, and Karolina caught her change of mood. “What is it?”

“I was worried about what else you might have seen in my mind.”

Karolina touched her face. “Don’t be. You’re beautiful to me.”

“But how? You’re so - light - and I’m so - dark.”

“Neither of those are true.” They spun in the air a couple more times, and then Karolina said, “Okay, look. You know the yin and yang symbol?”

“Yeah.”

“Well, think about it. That’s kind of like what we are. You aren’t all one thing, and I’m not all one thing, and neither thing is better than the other, and together we’re perfect.”

“You really think it’s that easy?”

Karolina’s face softened. “I love you, Nico.”

Nico opened her mouth to argue, and then changed her mind because of the way Karolina was looking at her. Like she was the sun in Karolina’s sky. And in that look, everything felt possible. Joy and hope suffused her body, and she kissed Karolina then. Karolina responded, and Nico pressed herself closer as the two of them continued to turn in the air.

From a long way off, they heard Gert yell, “Ugh!” and stomp away. Karolina just chuckled and pressed her lips to Nico’s again.

The next day, Nico stood on the ground floor of the Hostel, eyes closed, her body poised and waiting. She had cast another spell, but this time with Karolina’s full knowledge and approval. And they had run it by Gert, too, just to be sure. But even Gert had agreed this was okay, rather than a violation of boundaries or invasion of privacy or an instance of co-dependency or any of the other things she had complained about once Nico and Karolina had descended from the skylight. “I mean, it’s kind of like a magical version of Find My Friend,” she’d shrugged. “And it’s entirely opt-in for Karolina.” After a pause, she said more quietly, “And our lives have been scary, and they’re still scary, and we shouldn’t pretend that they’re not.”

Nico’s eyes flashed open at the sudden alarm bell in her mind. She raced out of the Hostel, even though she knew intellectually that this was simply a test of the spell. Karolina wasn't really in trouble. That was what they had agreed: That Karolina could send an alarm if she needed to, which let Nico find her way to Karolina’s location. It wasn’t something Nico could do on her own. As Gert had said, it was an opt-in for Karolina.

Nico went down the hill, but Karolina didn’t feel any closer. Nico was glad Karolina was taking the test seriously, and hadn’t just walked a short distance. But where had she gone?

Eventually, Nico found herself outside their old school. It was a weekend, so the grounds were empty. Nico grinned, having a sudden idea of where Karolina would be waiting for her. She still continued to follow the feeling in her mind, but wasn’t at all surprised at where it led her.

Karolina was waiting for her on the spot where they’d kissed for the first time. “Took you long enough.”

“Yeah, well, I can’t run as fast as you,” Nico protested as she slid her arms around Karolina’s waist.

For a few seconds, they just gazed into each other’s eyes. Nico said, haltingly, “You know, I’m really glad you found the courage, that night. What I would’ve missed out on - you’re the best thing in my life.”

Karolina stroked Nico’s cheek gently. “And I’ll always be here. We’ll always find each other.”

Nico knew Karolina couldn’t truly guarantee that. Life happens. She still couldn’t help feeling reassured in the sunny glow of Karolina’s eternal optimism, and this spell had at least reduced her separation anxiety to a manageable level.

So she reached up and kissed Karolina instead, murmuring against her lips, “I love you, Karolina.”


End file.
